I really, really like the name [name]Roxana[/name], but pronounced like [name]Roxanna[/name], rock-sa-na, not rock-sah-na. Is that how you pronounce [name]Roxana[/name]? Would it be clearer if I spelled it [name]Roxanna[/name]? I really like the one N spelling, though, because it reminds me of [name]Roxane[/name] in [name]Cyrano[/name] de Bergerac, which is a play I love.
I would pronounce it your way.
When I say it aloud, I say “Rocks-anna” …or I think I pronounce it like you do “rock-sa-na”. No “ah” sound but a more flat, short “a” sound. I’m a native [name]East[/name] Coaster and I’ve never heard it said the other way. I do prefer the double “nn” spelling but I understand your love of [name]Roxane[/name] in [name]Cyrano[/name]!
I would say it Rocks-[name]AH[/name]-nah. I knew a [name]Roxana[/name], nn [name]Roxy[/name], and that’s how she said it. Saying [name]Ana[/name] as [name]Anna[/name] doesn’t come very intuitively to me, and vice versa–I’ve always been told that [name]Ana[/name] is “[name]Ah[/name]-nah” and [name]Anna[/name] is “[name]ANN[/name]-ah”. That being said, I say [name]Giovanna[/name] with the ‘ah-nah’ sound and [name]Morgana[/name] and [name]Sylvana[/name] with the ‘[name]ANN[/name]-ah’ sound, so I don’t think it’s absolutely non-negotiable. If you say it with the [name]ANN[/name]-ah sound, I think others will follow.
I think most people would pronounce it Rocks-anna.